Michael Jackson was born in 1958, the seventh of nine children, to Joseph and Katherine Jackson. He was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and only officially left the organisation in 1987. Still a vegetarian, Jackson is a professional entertainer, singer and songwriter whose reputation and cultural impact belie a small body of solo work.

In the mid 1960s, Michael, along with his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon, were formed into ‘The Jackson 5’ by their father. The group began singing in local clubs and bars and were signed to Motown Records in 1969. The family moved to California and the first four singles released by the group, 'ABC', 'I Want You Back', 'The Love You Save' and 'I’ll Be There' all reached number 1 in the charts. Jackson and some of his siblings would later claim that their father was a strict disciplinarian in this period, and have alleged varying degrees of physical and mental abuse.

In 1976, the group left Motown and renamed themselves ‘The Jacksons’. Despite a flexible line-up, including brother Randy and younger sister Janet, and the growing solo career of Michael, the Jacksons released another six albums and toured all over the world until 1984.

In 1978, Michael appeared as the Scarecrow in the film version of the musical ‘The Wiz’, a soul adaptation of the Wizard of Oz story. Whilst the film was not a huge success, and the teenage Jackson complained bitterly about the effect of the heavy make-up on his adolescent acne, it was here that he met the film’s music producer – Quincy Jones.

Jones produced the first three solo albums for Michael. The first, 'Off the Wall' was a departure from the more traditional Motown sound of the Jacksons and, whilst it was a hit, both critically and commercially, it was not enough to separate the young singer from the family group entirely. The next album, 'Thriller', would change all that and more.

'Thriller' has become the best-selling album of all time, shifting well over 50 million copies to date. The videos that accompanied the singles released from the album set new standards for complexity, length, expense, spectacle and cinematic intent, that continued to be a feature of Michael's career. The first video, 'Billie Jean', became the first video by a black artist to be played on the young MTV network.

The 'Thriller' video was ambitious from the start. Hiring an established cinema director and using state-of-the-art make-up and special effects, the homage to horror films is widely acknowleged as one of the most influential of all time. The album went on the win Jackson seven Grammys in 1984, with the artist winning another for narrating 'The E.T. storybook'. The eight awards was a record only later matched by Carlos Santana.

'Bad' marked the highest point of Michael Jackson’s career, with his first solo World tour, feature film 'Moonwalker' and the release of his autobiography. The follow-up, 'Dangerous', contained some of his most lavish videos full of celebrity cameos from, amongst others, Macauley Culkin, Eddie Murphy, Michael Jordan, Naomi Campbell, Iman, Slash from ‘Guns ‘n’ Roses’ and even Bart and Homer Simpson.

Later releases were less commercially succcessful and, as Jackson’s notoriety and eccentricity grew, his output slowed. Three of the four remaining albums were greatest hits collections of remix albums.

In 1993, a complaint was filed on behalf of 13-year-old Jordan Chandler, which accused Jackson of sexual molestation. The civil action was settled for an undisclosed sum and the family of the child then refused to allow him to testify in the subsequent criminal case which collapsed. No charges have ever been legally proven in the case and due to a confidentiality clause, neither side has commented on the allegations other than to state that the payment did not constitute an admission of guilt. Subsequent to the settlement, Californian law has been modified, to avoid minors having a financial incentive not to testify in a criminal lawsuit.

Michael Jackson has been married twice. In 1994, he married Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, but they were divorced within two years. In 1996, he married Debbie Rowe. Despite two children, Prince Michael and Paris Katherine, the couple also divorced, in 1999. Early in 2002, Jackson had another son, Prince Michael II (sometime known as ‘Blanket’) via a surrogate mother, whose identity has not been released. For security reasons, the children are masked whenever they appear in public. Ms. Rowe has claimed that this is at her request, to prevent kidnapping.

In 2002, rumours came to international attention concerning Jackson’s financial health. With the singer’s lavish lifestyle and declining sales, a number of banks claimed unpaid loans and cash-flow irregularities. Concerns were also raised over events at Jackson’s ranch ‘Neverland’ and unproven rumours spread over his relationship with several young boys. To counter many of these rumours, Jackson agreed to an extensive interview with Martin Bashir for Granada Television. The result was not favourable to the performer, and he complained of selective editing and editorial bias. Despite releasing a second programme of material, not used in the Granada documentary, Jackson was not satisfied and filed complaints with UK standards authorities.

Finally, in November 2003, Jackson was booked and released on bail to face charges of “lewd or lascivious acts” with a child under 14. However, following a four-month trial in 2005 he was found 'not guilty' on all charges.

Fans who had kept a vigil outside the court cheered as the verdict was broadcast via a loud speaker. The singer, who had strenuously denied molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo, left the court without making a statement and returned to his Neverland ranch. The long trial saw Jackson suffer a dramatic weight loss and require a number of hospital visits.